Word Type

Noun

Adjective

Adjective

Verb

The word "motive" can be used as noun, adjective, adjective and verb.

Word Relationships

Derived Terms

appeal to motive automotive by-motive cytomotive electromotive leading motive magnetomotive motive power motive power depot motiveless motiveness motivity motivology nonmotive pedomotive profit motive protonmotive submotive ulterior motive unmotived vasomotive

Context

architecture fine arts legal music

Broader Terms (Hypernyms)

design figure idea melodic theme musical theme pattern psychological feature theme

Type Of (IsA)

intentional mental situation

Related Terms

cause commit communication crime emotion idea incentive incite inspiration limb motif motion move murder murder stories murder urge prompt prompting prove prove murder reason stories subject theme underlying underlying reason urge

Similar Terms

causative causative

Synonym Network

motif motional motivate motivating motivation moving

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.